Dugongs: “Sirens” of the Sea

Sightings of dugongs by early seafarers possibly gave rise to the mythology of mermaids and sirens.

Given that a dugong has a wrinkly
face and bristly nose, those sailors must have been at sea for a very
long time!

But, while dugongs may not be as lovely as the imaginary
beautiful creatures their sightings inspired, they nevertheless possess
a wondrous beauty in their own right.

These mammals have incredibly expressive faces, and, unlike
dolphins, eat only vegetation, using their strong lips to pull leaves
from green marine plants. They can grow to a length of 2.2 to 3.4 m (7
to 11 ft), and usually weigh from 230 to 360 kg (500 to 800 pounds).

Dugongs are often referred to as sea cows because they “graze” on the green algae and sea grass that forms “meadows” in sheltered coastal waters.

Dugongs are often referred to as sea cows because they “graze”
on the green algae and sea grass that forms “meadows” in sheltered coastal
waters. As they feed, dugongs uproot whole plants, leaving a tell-tale
feeding trail.1 They live in generally shallow waters from
the Red Sea and eastern Africa to the Philippines, New Guinea and northern
Australia (including the Great Barrier Reef).

Dugongs are truly gentle creatures. This has made it very
easy to exploit them and they have been heavily hunted for their meat,
hide and oil—to the point where dugongs now need the protection
of the law to prevent the species disappearing (like its close relative,
the larger Steller’s sea cow, which hungry seal hunters wiped out
within a few decades of its discovery in the Bering Sea in 1741).

Dugongs threatened?

In fact, in north-eastern Australia—where dugongs still
live in reasonable numbers—indigenous elders recently called for tighter
controls on native hunting rights of dugongs (and turtles) to prevent
this protected species from being hunted to extinction.2

Hunting of dugongs is not simply a modern phenomenon. The
Bible makes numerous references to sea cows, generally in terms of uses
for their skin. For example, sea cow hides were among the offerings Israelites
were required to make to the Lord,3 and the people made tent
coverings from the tough skin.4 Of course, such small, localized
demand in Old Testament times would hardly have impacted dugong numbers.

Aside from hunting, dugongs are threatened by oil spills,
entanglement in fishing gear, shark and turtle nets, dynamite fishing,
disruption to feeding by boats, and pollution caused by coastal development.5

Dugongs, Steller’s sea cows and freshwater manatees are
members of the order Sirenia.6 They are the only large
aquatic grass-eaters other than turtles.

Dugongs and freshwater manatees differ mainly in their snouts
and tails: dugongs have a down-turned snout and forked tail, while manatees
have a straight snout and rounded tail. Both have thick, tough skin,
eyes without eyelids, small external ear openings and the trademark strong
muscular upper lip.

Male dugongs can be distinguished by their “tusks”. These
are two incisor teeth that break through in adulthood. Males and females
have six cusped (with bumps or points) molars in each jaw, which fall
out progressively until only two remain. These teeth, together with the
horny pads at the front of each jaw, crush their grassy food.

Dugongs do not see well, but are believed to have acute
hearing7 and a strong sense of smell. They also possess coarse,
sensitive bristles that cover the upper lip of their large, fleshy snout.
These help locate sea grass.8 They possibly live up to 70
years, and communicate underwater with squeaks and squeals.9

Socialites

They are social creatures, tending to live in pairs or groups.
Early last century, an enormous herd, estimated at covering 13 square
kilometres (5 square miles), was sighted off the coast of Brisbane, Australia.8

Like dolphins, dugongs breathe by frequently visiting the
surface, but these mammals breathe through the tip of the snout, which
is protruded with the nostrils open. Dugongs can stay submerged for
up to 10 minutes,10 but can’t hold their breath as long
as dolphins, whales or porpoises.11 They prefer to remain underwater,
but do occasionally lift their heads entirely out of the water.

Although usually sluggish, they are capable of up to 10
km/h (6 mph) for short distances,12 and when resting, may “tail
stand” (in an appropriate depth) with their heads out of the water.13

Relatively little is known about dugongs, particularly in
relation to lifespan, age at maturity, rate of growth or even number
of young produced in a lifetime. They are believed to carry their young
for more than 150 days, giving birth usually to a single calf, which receives
plenty of maternal care.14

Classified separately

Despite the fact they are marine mammals and have some resemblance
to dolphins and whales, dugongs are classified separately from their fellow
marine mammals. Incredibly, dugongs are grouped in the same suborder
as elephants (Subungulata), largely because they have some similarities
in their teeth and in the position of their mammary glands (between the
front flippers/legs).15

Of course humans have mammary glands in a similar position—but
evolutionists do not propose a common ancestor with dugongs to explain
that similarity!

Furthermore, humans have a similar heart artery arrangement
(“aortic arch”) to dugongs, which is different from elephants.16
This shows that the argument from similarity for evolution (common ancestors)
is a very selective one—applied where it seems to work, otherwise ignored.
Large-scale similarities are due to a common Creator, not common ancestry.

In classifying dugongs with elephants, evolutionists assume
that elephants evolved from water creatures. In other words the evolutionary
path would be:

sea creature → land mammal → back to the sea
(supposed ancestor of elephants and dugongs) → back to the land
(elephants).17

But there is no fossil evidence that dugongs and manatees
are related to any creature that now—or ever—walked on land.

Furthermore, the dugong’s body and breathing method
are ideal for a marine mammal, and their teeth, horny pads for crushing
food, tough upper lip and bristly snout are perfectly designed for their
underwater vegetarian diet. It is therefore most likely that dugongs,
Steller’s sea cows and manatees all descended from a dugong-manatee
kind created by God on Day 5 of Creation Week (Genesis 1:20–23).